The reason many people believe exercise to be helpful in combating stressful and depressive illnesses is because when you exercise vigorously for longer than 20 minutes, your body floods with endorphins. These chemicals give us a buzz, and this is why it is widely believed that exercise can cure stress, depression or anxiety.

When my anxiety was at it’s worst back in 2000, I exercised 4 times a week. For 2 days, I’d perform weight-training exercises. These exercises are the type of exercise that can actually make you feel worse because you have time to think about all of the issues and problems you have in your life at the time. I’d also warm up and warm down on bike machines or cross-trainers. Again, you can perform these exercises easily so you can think about your problems.

As soon as my workout had finished, I’d perform flawed modes of thinking, that made me anxious and depressed. Exercising did very little to stop me performing these flawed thought processes.

The idea is to give yourself a period of time where you’re not thinking about your problems and worries. And of course, you’ll do your body a whole heap of good too!The point here is to understand that exercise can only provide temporary relief. The only way to find permanent relief from your suffering is to understand and address flawed modes of thinking. And, just as physical exercise benefits our bodies, mental skills leading to better modes of thinking will bring enormous benefits to our minds.

“Thought can make you, thought can break you." - Swami SukhabodhanadaUntil next time.